Concert Reviews

Black Label Society: Photos and Concert Review

Brooks Robinson captures Black Label Society at the YouTube Theater on March 13, 2026

by Brooks Robinson

Updated March 15, 2026

Press/photo passes to photograph a concert usually come from either submitting a request on the Live Nation Press Portal, or reaching out to a band’s management or public relations team – my Friday evening in the photo pit involved neither of these. My route to the show was a little more circuitous, with a meandering path that started with one generation removed from Bruce Lee’s inner-circle of teaching disciples in Jeet Kune Do, and eventually led to metal legend Zakk Wylde himself. It’s too long a story to tell, but my presence at the YouTube Theater on Friday night took the help of many seemingly unrelated people, and I was beyond grateful to be there, as this was an amazing night of rock & roll brilliance.

The YouTube Theater is a 6000-seat concert hall in the SoFi Stadium complex in Inglewood, California. It has great sound, and is a solid place to see a show – especially a Black Label Society show. Founder/singer/songwriter/guitarist extraordinaire/pianist Zakk Wylde would be working overtime, as his top-tier Black Sabbath cover band Zakk Sabbath would be opening for Black Label Society. The tour started a week ago, and goes with very few days off throughout the US, South America, and Europe through September, with a few Pantera gigs sprinkled in – an exhausting schedule for anyone, much less someone fronting two bands each night. Before launching the tour, Zakk joked that “The whole point is I’m in Zakk Sabbath, and we’re opening for Black Label…I’m not only a fan of Zakk Wylde, but I’m a fan of his wife, and by us being out on this tour, I plan on sleeping with Zakk Wylde’s wife. That’s why I’m thankful that this tour was put together. While we’re going to blow Black Label off the stage, I’m gonna sleep with his wife.”

Black Label Society

Black Label Society is on the road supporting Engines of Demolition, their 12th album, which comes out in two weeks on March 27th. Zakk played the new powerhouse track “Name in Blood” off the album - it’s heavy and exactly what you’d hope for in a new BLS song, and the audience went crazy for it.

I’ve been a Zakk fan since his album debut on 1988’s Ozzy Osborne’s No Rest for the Wicked, where his distinctive pinch dynamics on “Crazy Babies” and “Miracle Man” stood out, caught my ear, and made me a fan for life. He started Black Label Society ten years later in 1998, and while he’s performed with other musicians (Ozzy, Pantera, etc.) since then, he’s always come back to BLS.

Highlights of the show included Ozzy Osborne’s 1991 monster hit “No More Tears” that Zakk co-wrote and performed on. It’s a great song with a killer riff that everyone knows by heart, and when it concluded, all 6000 people in the venue chanted “Ozzy…Ozzy…Ozzy”. Black Label Society started playing it again on this tour after a twenty-plus-year hiatus, and hearing it live with thousands of fellow metalheads was even more poignant given Ozzy’s death nine months ago. The other really special moment happened during 2005’s “In This River”, a soaring piano power ballad. Two huge photos of Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul from Pantera were revealed behind the band, and Zakk dedicated the song to their memory. Lastly, to the point that this music is important, there was a lady sitting on the step on the back of the barricade in the security/photo pit before the show, and she remained there for all three bands. One of the photographers asked about her story, and she told him that she was watching her 293rd Black Label Society show, and the band’s representatives had arranged for her to be closer than anyone else. It was her fifth show on the current tour, and she was planning on seeing more.

Black Label Society are:

Zakk Wylde – vocals, guitar, piano
John (JD) DeServio – bass
Jeff Fabb – drums
Dario Lorina – rhythm guitar

Black Label Society Setlist

1) Funeral Bell

2) Name in Blood

3) Destroy & Conquer

4) A Love Unreal

5) Heart of Darkness

6) No More Tears (Ozzy Osbourne cover)

7) In This River

8) The Blessed Hellride

9) Set You Free

10) Fire It Up

11) Suicide Messiah

12) Stillborn

Zakk Sabbath

Zakk’s other band, the three-piece Zakk Sabbath, opened for Black Label Society. All three bands had crossover members, and both Jeff Fabb (drums) and John (JD) DeServio (bass) played with Zakk in both bands. Started in 2014, Zakk Sabbath is a cover band celebrating the music of Black Sabbath. Having stood by Ozzy’s side on stage for so many years, Zakk knows how to do it right and honors his favorite band in the best possible way.

The audience chanted “Ozzy…Ozzy…Ozzy” between songs with the encouragement of Zakk, and people truly loved the show, the music, and being able to be relive their past by seeing these incredible songs played live. This music is important, and it’s vital that someone like Zakk, who truly understands and honors both the music and the memory, helps keep it alive through his playing. A highlight was Zakk heading into the crowd and playing a solo during their last song of the night, “War Pigs”. Fans in the seated section where he stopped to play, pushed forward towards him, surrounding him in a tight-knit circle much like a rugby scrum, as he raised his guitar behind his head, while taking brief pauses to fist-bump kids in the inner circle, before returning to the stage – guitar still behind his head, and solo still raging. The night was already in high gear, and Black Label Society was still to come.

Zakk Sabbath Setlist

1) Children of the Grave

2) Snowblind

3) Orchid

4) Fairies Wear Boots

5) Bassically

6) N.I.B.

7) Sirens

8) War Pigs

Dark Chapel

I didn’t know about Dark Chapel before the show, except that it was fronted by BLS’s rhythm guitarist Dario Lorina. When the four-piece hit the stage and exploded into their first song, “Afterglow”, jaws dropped at how bad-ass Dario’s voice sounded, and how tight they were. This is a really good band, and an excellent show–the crowd was still getting there when they started, and despite the room not being near capacity yet, everyone in the band was there to put on a rock show, and rock out they did. Dario has shared the stage with Zakk for years, but he really stepped out of Zakk’s immense shadow and truly shines on his own. Dark Chapel played a short, yet powerful five-song set, and it was a great way to start off an amazing night of heavy music!

Dark Chapel are: